They’re the pride and backbone of American higher education, doing essential research and educating en masse the next generations of scientists and engineers. But a new report argues the mission of the country’s 101 major public research universities is imperiled by budget cuts amounting to one-fifth of their state funding over the past decade.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation earned $57.7 million from licensing of research innovations in fiscal year 2011, according to a survey by the Association of University Technology Managers.